While on vacation at the family's summer home in Quebec following his resignation, Meyendorff took ill and was taken to St. Mary's Hospital in Montreal. He died there on 22 July as the result of pancreatic cancer. His son, Paul Meyendorff, is currently Professor of Liturgical Theology at St. Vladimir's Seminary.
Publications and courses
Meyendorff's publications include the critical text and translation of Byzantine theologian Gregory Palamas, as well as a number of books in the fields of theology and history, such as A Study of Gregory Palamas ; The Orthodox Church ; Orthodoxy and Catholicity ; Christ in Eastern Christian Thought ; Byzantine Theology ; Marriage, an Orthodox Perspective ; Living Tradition ; Byzantium and the Rise of Russia ; The Byzantine Legacy in the Orthodox Church ; Catholicity and the Church ; and Imperial unity and Christian divisions. The Church 450-680 A.D. ; Rome, Constantinople, Moscow: Historical and Theological Studies. His books have been published in a number of languages, including French, German, Italian, Russian, Greek, English, Finnish, Spanish, Dutch, Korean, Japanese, Serbian, Romanian, Polish, Hungarian and Chinese.
Study of Gregory Palamas
Meyendorff's doctoral dissertation on Palamas is considered to have transformed the opinion of the Western Church regarding Palamism. Before his study of Palamas, Palamite theology was considered to be a "curious and sui generis example of medieval Byzantium's intellectual decline." Meyendorff's landmark study of Palamas however, "set Palamas firmly within the context of Greek patristic thought and spirituality" with the result that Palamism is now generally understood to be "a faithful witness to the long-standing Eastern Christian emphasis on deification as the purpose of the divine economy in Christ."
Affiliations
A member of several professional associations, Meyendorff served during different periods as President of the Orthodox Theological Society of America, President of the American Patristic Association, and a member of the Executive Committee, U.S. Committee for Byzantine Studies. He was a Fellow of the National Endowment for the Humanities, and a Guggenheim Fellow. During his service at the seminary, he held the positions of librarian, director of studies, and was long-time editor of St Vladimir's Theological Quarterly. His service to the church included positions as chairman of the Department of External Affairs of the Orthodox Church in America, as advisor to the Holy Synod, and as editor of the monthly newspaper The Orthodox Church. As a representative of the Orthodox Church, he participated in the activities of the World Council of Churches, having been Chairman of the Commission on Faith and Order and a member of the Central Committee. Committed particularly to inter-Orthodox unity and cooperation, he was one of the founders and the first general secretary of Syndesmos, and served later as its president.
From 9–11 February 2012, an International Conference "The Legacy of Fr John Meyendorff, Scholar and Churchman " was held at the St. Sergius Institute in Paris, to honour the 20th anniversary of the passing away of Protopresbyter John Meyendorff.